In college, Alec Lopez read a book that changed his life. Called Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow, he’s genuinely tried to live his life that way, and, it seems to be working out.

As owner of The Dive Bar (as well as the more recently-opened Armsby Abbey) on Green Street, Lopez is one of those guys – not unlike Vincent Hemmeter – who draws people in just by being himself.

Hanging at the Dive can still feel like one of those best kept secrets that isn’t quite so secret anymore – a local gem that townies bring their out-of-town guests to for a beer. The intimate, tavern-like pub that focuses on serving up microbrews and craft beers evolved from a college kids’ meat market to something of a hipster hang, without the pretension. In fact, the vibe is so “ridiculously chill” there that Lopez is reluctant to want to talk about it to the media. He has never advertised for that very reason. Still, Lopez explains that achieving the vibe was one of the most patient and deliberate acts of his life.

“I started converting the bar to fit my personality,” he says, “slowly changing the beer selection, slowly changing the music. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. The most important lesson I’ve learned about the Worcester night scene is if you do anything, be deliberate and unfaltering.” read more »

Thursday, June 11, was a date to celebrate at the Dive Bar. One hundred Thursdays ago, Drummer Duncan Arsenault went on a mission to bring together a wide assortment of Worcester musicians for live music performances on Thursday nights. The tradition has been going strong ever since. Usually, on a Thursday, the Dive Bar will have a good number of people in attendance, but on Thursday there was a line of people that snaked all around the outside sidewalk.

An eight-piece group made up of local musicians from diverse bands shared the stage performing funk and groove music from Al Green and James Brown, to Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder. Playing two electric keyboards with a permanent smile on his face was Brooks Milgate. Craig Rawding sang his heart out on vocals and blew his lungs out on the Harmonica. Steve Lefabvre and Brian Thomas gave the music an extra funk-feel with the Trumpet and Trombone. Brian Kearsley provided the right kind of jazz with his Saxophone. Al Vaudreuil and Jeremy Curtis kept a steady groove with the Guitar and Bass, while Arsenault was the backbone of it all.read more »

THE BEER NUT: In breathless anticipation of 75 Minute IPA from Dogfish

When bar owner Alec Lopez tapped the firkin, the crowd cheered, and he and other bartenders rushed to fill the special Dogfish Head pint glasses and hand them out to the crowd.

Dogfish sent 75 pint glasses to each bar that participated in the “simulcask,” and the first 75 people to get a pint of 75 Minute IPA got to keep the glass. I snagged one. I was about the 30th person to be served. Now I have a new Dogfish Head pint glass to add to my small collection at home, so now I have two different pint glasses and a snifter.

The first firkin was kicked, or tapped out, within 18 minutes. The second lasted a little longer the last pint was drawn around 10 p.m.

Johnny Cask has entered the building! We’ve retrofitted a 15 barrel tank to perfectly produce a very special cask conditioned ale (so, we have a little time to play around during winters at the Delaware coast). This beer, known as Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA is a blend of 60 and 90 Minute IPAs with a special whole leaf cascade dry-hopping session. Post-hopping the beer gest transferred into firkins and dosed with fresh yeast and maple syrup from the ole family homestead (actually the first batch will be re-fermented with maple syrup from the farm up the road from ours since ours won’t be ready until late March. We plan to ramp up our maple house activities to get a lot more syrup for Immort Ale, 75 Minute and future beers in the coming months and years).

The debut of these 75 Minute IPA casks will take place during a live ‘Simul-cask’ event in NYC, Phily, Boston, WORCESTER! and our home base in Rehoboth Beach, DE on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 7:50pm (EST).

After the initial launch our 75 Minute casks will be available at select accounts in Philly, NYC, Boston (“first we take Manhattan, etc”, L. Cohen) and, of course, our original brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE. The next year we may roll them out into additional markets.

Here is the Simul-cask Skinny:

What: Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA Simul-cask
Where: Select accounts NYC, Philly & Boston, plus our own brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE
When 7:50pm (EST), Thursday 3/26/09
Why: Because it sounds like a great idea!
Plus: The first 75 customers at each Simul-cask event get a free curved pint glass (where legal and while supplies last)!

We also have a very special band for this event! The Hurricane Horns will be performing all night long. If you haven’t seen The Hurricane Horns yet, here’s what to expect. “… a world class New Orleans Jazz, Southern Funk and Soul, and Rhythm and Blues band.”